Easy Tortilla Quiche (Red Pepper & Cheese Breakfast Bake)

A tortilla quiche swaps the pastry case for a single tortilla, pressed down into a small springform tin so the edges ruffle up and hold everything in. Red pepper sauce, chopped tomato, two eggs and a handful of grated cheese go straight on top, and it bakes in 12 to 15 minutes into a breakfast bake with a crisp base, set whites and a soft yolk. No pastry, no blind baking, and 32g of protein.

The tortilla does the job of pastry far better than it has any right to. The edges crisp and curl while the middle stays soft under the sauce, and the whole thing is in the oven five minutes after you start. The red pepper sauce is what stops it tasting like eggs on a wrap, it turns sweet and slightly jammy as it bakes.

• One tortilla instead of pastry, so no rolling, chilling or blind baking
• 32g of protein from two eggs and 50g of cheese, all in one tin
• Vegetarian as it stands, and easy to bulk out with whatever is in the fridge
• Five minutes of prep, about twenty minutes start to finish

Key Ingredients

• The tortilla is your whole crust. White or wholemeal both work, and you want one a little wider than your tin so the edges ruffle up the sides rather than lying flat. Corn tortillas will do it, they are smaller and more brittle, so press gently.
• Red pepper sauce or passata, 3 tablespoons. This is the flavour base and it goes jammy in the oven. Plain passata works, a roasted red pepper sauce is better.
• Two eggs, cracked straight on rather than whisked, so you get properly set whites and a yolk that still runs.
• Grated cheese, 50g. Cheddar for sharpness, mozzarella for the pull, and it is the thing to adjust if you want the numbers lower.
• Chopped tomato and spring onion, one going in for freshness through the bake, one scattered raw at the end to cut through the cheese.

Tortilla quiche bake or crustless quiche?

They are not the same thing. A crustless quiche is the egg filling baked on its own in a dish, so there is nothing to pick it up by. A tortilla quiche bake keeps an edge, which is the bit I actually want, and it means you can eat a wedge in your hand rather than chasing it round a plate with a fork.

Coaching Note

Use a springform tin rather than a flat tray. Lay a tortilla on a baking sheet, crack an egg onto it and the egg runs straight off the side. Pressed down into a tin, the tortilla turns into a case that holds everything in, and the clip means you can release it without tearing the base.

Second thing, pull it out while the yolks still wobble. The eggs carry on cooking in the residual heat for a minute or two after the tin leaves the oven, so what looks very slightly underdone is right by the time you cut it.

Swaps worth making

• Spinach or mushrooms, cooked off first so they do not water down the base
• Half the cheddar swapped for cottage cheese, for more protein and less fat
• Rounds cut from a wrap and pressed into a muffin tin for mini tortilla quiches, 8 to 10 minutes
• The air fryer at 180C for 10 to 12 minutes, if you would rather not heat the oven

If you want the meaty version, my ham and cheese tortilla quiche uses the same tin trick and comes in at 36g of protein. For more of the same idea there is my Bacon Tortilla Omelette and my Cottage Cheese Tortilla Omelette, and the proper potato and egg original is my Spanish Tortilla. You will find more like this on the breakfast recipes page.

If you would like more balanced, protein aware recipes, download my High Protein and Lower Calorie Healthy Meal Plan.

You can see me making this one over on Instagram.

Alex :)